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Einar J\u00f8rgen Haraldseid<\/span>Entrance to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in NorwayEinar J\u00f8rgen Haraldseid<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n Brazil is one of the 25 countries taking part in the initiative, designed to ensure the sustainability of agriculture in the face of climate change. So far, the country has contributed with seeds of non-domesticated species from four crops: rice, potato, sweet potato, and millet (a small-seeded cereal that resembles maize). Seeds from five wild species of sweet potato, four of rice, two of potato, and two of millet were sent to the UK. \u201cWild plants can be more resistant to pests, disease, and adverse environmental conditions and could be extremely useful for agriculture in the context of climate change,\u201d explains Mar\u00edlia Burle, an agronomist from EMBRAPA Genetic Resources and Biotechnology in Bras\u00edlia who is Brazil\u2019s representative in the international project Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change, led by a team from Kew. There is no loss of biodiversity for countries participating in the project. \u201cWe also keep seeds of the same plants that we ship to the UK in our own bank. The Millennium samples function as a backup of the seed of these wild species that we preserve at EMBRAPA,\u201d says Burle.<\/p>\n Between 2013 and 2018, Brazilian researchers made 16 field trips, collecting seed samples from wild relatives of rice, potato, sweet potato, and millet from every biome in the country\u2014from the Amazon to the Pampas\u2014except the Caatinga (semiarid scrublands) in the northeast. Only three other countries from South America participated in the initiative: Peru, Chile, and Ecuador.<\/p>\n Josep Gesti\u2009\/\u2009Wikimedia Commons<\/span>Wild species related to milletJosep Gesti\u2009\/\u2009Wikimedia Commons<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n In an article published in the scientific journal Plants <\/em>in July this year, the leaders of the wild crop species conservation project outlined the results achieved over the last 10 years. Seeds from the wild relatives of the 28 selected crops have all been successfully obtained. In total, nearly 4,600 samples from 345 species have been sent to Kew. The crops whose genetic diversity was best covered by the survey were alfalfa, wheat, bambara groundnut (a relative of peanuts), and grass pea (which can be cooked like beans). Potatoes, rice, and eggplant were also highly sampled, according to the study.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of the so-called exceptional species\u2014groups of plants that cannot be stored using traditional seed drying and freezing methods\u2014are the most difficult to conserve,\u201d Kew Gardens biologist Chris Cockel, leader of the wild crop relatives project, said in an interview with Pesquisa<\/em> FAPESP<\/em>. There are usually no major problems storing the seeds of the non-domesticated species of the nearly three dozen crops included in the initiative by drying them and refrigerating them at sub-zero temperatures. \u201cBut some seeds of rare species and tropical crops, such as mango and avocado, cannot survive this process. The same is true of oak,\u201d says Cockel.<\/p>\n Dinesh Valke<\/span>Sweet potatoDinesh Valke<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n The orchid varieties are probably the least conserved plant in the Millennium Seed Bank, according to the British scientist. Orchid seeds are very fine, almost like sand, and difficult to handle. Alternative means of preservation, such as the expensive process of freezing plant parts at -196 \u00b0C in liquid nitrogen, have been implemented over time.<\/p>\n Modern agriculture tends to homogenize the genetic material of crops in order to maintain or increase productivity. When a crop variety or species adapts well in a given region and produces a high yield, farmers tend to then fill their fields with more plants with the same biological characteristics. The forms of these crops that produce low yields or are difficult to manage, whether domesticated or not, are abandoned. It is not uncommon to find thousands of crop specimens with practically identical DNA on large farms. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that 75% of the genetic diversity of cultivated plants has been lost in the last century.<\/p>\n Brazil has one of the world\u2019s largest national germplasm banks for agricultural crops, started by EMBRAPA in Bras\u00edlia in the 1970s. Germplasm is the technical term for genetic material that can be preserved and used to propagate a crop. In the vast majority of cases, the seeds are dried and frozen at negative temperatures. The germplasm bank at EMBRAPA, which receives contributions from the company\u2019s research units and partner institutions and universities, holds 118,000 seed samples from approximately 1,100 species, most of which are cultivated plants, such as rice, beans, wheat, and soy.<\/p>\n Embrapa<\/span>Seed germination test at EMBRAPAEmbrapa<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n \u201cWe store 1,500 seeds of each variety,\u201d says Juliano Gomes P\u00e1dua, an agronomist from EMBRAPA Genetic Resources and Biotechnology and supervisor of the bank. Every 15 to 20 years, the seeds are tested to check that at least 85% of them are able to germinate. The material kept in the nation\u2019s capital serves as a backup of the state agricultural company\u2019s \u201cactive\u201d germplasm banks located at branches around the country. These active banks provide seeds for research and agricultural extension work. \u201cAlmost everything in these active banks is also stored in the germplasm bank,\u201d explains P\u00e1dua.<\/p>\n The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, located on a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic circle, is another international partner that participates in national plant diversity preservation programs. Excavated into a mountain roughly 130 meters above sea level, Svalbard was created in 2008 and holds nearly 1.2 million seed samples at -18 \u00b0C. The material covers 6,000 species from 91 seed banks in 68 countries. Brazil has sent the project three shipments, totaling around 5,000 samples of corn, soy, onion, pepper, pumpkin, rice, beans, melon, watermelon, cashew, and passion fruit. \u201cThe seed vault at Svalbard is only opened three times a year,\u201d says biologist Rosa L\u00eda Barbieri from EMBRAPA Temperate Climate in Pelotas, who was Latin America\u2019s representative on the scientific council of the Norwegian project for three years (2019\u20132022). \u201cThe location is remote and access is tightly controlled.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/061-063_bancos-de-sementes_320-4-1140.jpg\")
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